Elite Tennis Academy

A Serbian academy built for serious training and simple logistics

Elite Tennis Academy is a purpose-built training base in Novi Sad, Serbia, that grew out of a local club founded in 1997 and was formalized as an academy in March 2009. From the beginning, its promise has been refreshingly practical. Players live a few steps from the courts, eat in the same complex, and rotate between tennis and fitness without long commutes or wasted energy. The address is Bulevar Jovana Dučića 35, about an hour by road from Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport, which matters for families flying in and for players who plan to compete across Central and Southeastern Europe.

The academy’s ethos is focus over flash. You will not find a resort aesthetic or sprawling distractions. Instead, you find a tidy campus, a predictable weekly rhythm, and a staff that values frequent individual work inside a clear plan. That simplicity is not an accident. It reflects a belief that consistent hours on court, targeted feedback, and adequate rest underpin most gains, especially for juniors learning to convert training habits into competitive performance.

Why Novi Sad works as a training base

Novi Sad sits on the Danube and balances university energy with a relaxed residential feel. The neighborhood around the academy is calm, with the historic center a short drive away. For athletes, the setting offers two advantages. First, seasons are well defined. Elite structures the calendar around a seven-month summer block from April 1 to November 1 and a five-month winter block from November 1 to April 1. Second, the city’s size makes daily life simple. Grocery runs, study time, and small recoveries between sessions all fit without the stress of big-city traffic.

Weather is rarely a training stopper. The academy schedules most work on clay but keeps hard-court options in play, and covered courts protect volume when rain or summer heat would normally force a pause. That continuity adds up over months. If you are comparing options in the region, it is helpful to contrast Novi Sad’s compact feel with the larger ecosystems in Belgrade at the Novak Tennis Centre or the national-level environment at Serbia Tennis Academy. Elite positions itself in between, with less bustle and a sharper focus on day-to-day development.

Facilities: courts, gym, recovery, and on-site living

The core of the campus is its courts. Elite operates 10 courts in total, with six inside the main center and four nearby that are added as needed. The surface mix leans toward clay, a Serbian hallmark that develops patient point construction, height control, and defensive resilience. Hard courts round out the options for players who need to translate their patterns to faster conditions. Lighting extends play late into the evening when tournament scheduling or exam blocks demand flexibility.

Year-round training is supported by covered courts. In winter, five courts are under cover, four on clay and one on hard, which allows technical priorities to continue through colder months without interruption. In summer, two courts remain covered with open sides, a simple design that lets players keep rhythm during midday heat or sudden showers. The campus also hosts two covered padel courts that some coaches use for footwork, reaction drills, and cross-training variety.

Alongside the courts sits a compact strength-and-conditioning space, locker rooms, and recovery areas. You will not find a cavernous performance center, but you will find the essentials: squat racks, free weights, medicine balls, speed ladders, and enough open floor for movement patterns and plyometrics. Recovery options include massage and physiotherapy by appointment, with basic modalities available on site.

On-site apartments are the practical heart of the academy. Players can go from bed to breakfast to the first ball in minutes, which matters on multi-session days. That proximity extends rest windows, reduces daily friction, and makes it easier to manage nutrition and hydration. The campus restaurant serves international and athlete-oriented menus, with simple, repeatable meals that help juniors fuel consistently. Wi-Fi is reliable across the site, which keeps schoolwork, video review, and remote work for parents on track.

Leadership and coaching team

Elite’s founder is Aleksandar Mojsejev, a longtime tennis official and tournament director who has served roles within the Tennis Federation of Serbia and the regional Tennis Association of Vojvodina. Day-to-day tennis is led by Sports Director and Head Coach Saša Stojisavljević, a former professional player and Serbian junior national champion who has coached on tour. His experience includes work with players such as Nikola Milojević, Jelena Janković, and Peđa Krstin, with collaborations around training blocks for Miomir Kecmanović and Filip Krajinović. The college pathway is coordinated by Ivan Mojsejev, a former Serbia and Montenegro junior national team member who competed in NCAA Division I in the United States.

This blend of governance know-how, tour travel, and college navigation is unusual for a mid-sized academy. It gives Elite the ability to set realistic milestones whether the player aims toward the professional circuit or a college roster. For families exploring the Serbian tennis scene more broadly, it is worth comparing staff backgrounds with the tour-facing emphasis at the Tipsarevic Tennis Academy, which can inform where your child might fit best.

Coaching philosophy: individual attention in small groups

Elite believes in the compound effect of frequent one-to-one coaching anchored inside a weekly plan. Most competitive juniors receive several individual lessons each week, then rotate through small groups of two to four players matched by age and level. The format keeps feedback specific while preserving enough sparring volume to test themes under pressure.

Communication lines are intentionally short. Coaches map a player’s priorities at intake, track progress through the week, and share regular updates with parents for juniors. The fitness staff coordinates load, so the ratio of tennis to physical work fits the player’s calendar rather than a one-size template. Midweek is lighter by design. Wednesdays typically feature morning sparring and fitness with the afternoon free, Saturdays lean into match play, and Sundays are off. That cadence helps athletes learn to load, test, and recover the way competitors do over long seasons.

Programs: a pathway from foundations to tour prep

Elite’s catalog covers a broad pathway while keeping formats consistent enough that families can mix and match weeks.

• Intensive Program. For competitive juniors and aspiring professionals who want a higher ratio of individual sessions plus daily fitness. Weekly planning defines technical priorities, tactical themes, and tournament scheduling. Recovery windows are protected midweek and on weekends when possible.
• Junior Tennis Program (Semi-Intensive). Targeted at roughly ages 10 to 14. Daily 90-minute tennis and a one-hour fitness session are standard. Sessions alternate between individual work and pairs, so players build volume without overloading growth plates or attention spans. Saturday match plays ties the week together.
• Tennis School. A beginner pathway for ages 5 to 10, three times per week, built around coordination, fun, and consistent contact. For families staying longer, it functions as a soft landing before stepping into semi-intensive training.
• Adult Program. Flexible individual and group sessions for recreational and advanced adults. Players receive an assessment on arrival, and those traveling with juniors can book full board and train on a parallel track, often with midweek downtime to explore the city.
• Fitness Program. Integrated strength and conditioning with progress checks every three months. Periodization alternates competition-period microcycles focused on speed, agility, power, and reaction with preparatory blocks centered on endurance and strength.
• College Tennis Program. For players targeting the United States, Elite partners with a placement specialist, adds academic preparation for standardized testing, and calibrates training volume to highlight tournaments and video. Coordination is led by a coach who has navigated the NCAA system from the inside.

Player development: how a week fits together

A typical week pairs technical depth with tactical problem solving and daily fitness that aligns with the player’s competition calendar. On clay, technical blocks emphasize clean contact, height management, and depth that neutralizes pressure. Drills often build patience first, then move toward short-ball conversion and court-position gains. When players shift to hard courts, coaches refine timing and first-strike patterns that carry into quicker exchanges.

Tactical sessions lean on constrained games. Players rehearse serve-plus-one choices, second-serve protection, and cross-court containment followed by the right change of direction. Scoring formats vary. Some days focus on short sets with tight rules, others on extended rallies that force problem solving when tired. Match charting is used sparingly but purposefully, typically to verify whether a weekly theme shows up under stress rather than to track every stat.

Fitness integrates speed and footwork early in the week, heavier strength and power in the middle, and coordination and reaction closer to Saturday match play. This sequencing helps athletes arrive at the weekend fresh enough to test game plans at real speed. Coaches review notes after match play, weigh what stuck and what slipped, and adjust the following week accordingly. Over time the system builds a feedback loop: set intention, train with constraints, compete, then refine.

Support services complement the core. Massage and physiotherapy are available on site. Nutrition guidance covers everyday fueling, hydration, and tournament-week tweaks. Sports psychology sessions can be arranged for players who need help with routines, activation, or between-point resets. Language lessons in Serbian, English, or Russian are a pragmatic option for longer stays.

Alumni and success stories

Elite’s courts have supported a steady flow of Serbian players. Ivana Jorović, the world under-18 champion in 2014, trained here from age 12. Senior pros who have used the academy during developmental years or for training blocks include Dušan Lajović, Filip Krajinović, Laslo Đere, and Aleksandra Krunić, among others. For parents, these names are less about celebrity and more about context. They signal an environment that understands how professionals train week after week and how to build habits that transfer from practice courts to match courts.

The presence of regional federations nearby also matters. Coaches are in the loop on development camps and selection events, and juniors have realistic opportunities to compete across Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina without expensive flights. That combination reduces travel fatigue and stretches budgets, which often translates into more starts and a faster learning curve.

Culture and daily life

Because accommodation, restaurant, and courts sit together, downtime is easy to manage. Juniors rest between sessions in apartments instead of shuttles. Wednesday afternoons provide a reset, and Saturdays often include guided local visits for adult groups or lighter physical work for juniors finishing a dense week. Parents who work remotely find dependable Wi-Fi and café options in town, while younger siblings can enroll in Tennis School or spend time in nearby parks.

The culture is friendly but direct. Coaches set expectations clearly and hold players to them. Effort, punctuality, and simple courtesies are part of the daily routine. Because groups are small, new arrivals integrate quickly and cliques are rare. International players pick up Serbian phrases fast, and locals often switch to English on court without fanfare. It is the kind of environment where a quiet player can focus and a social player can still find peers.

Costs, access, and practicalities

Pricing is quoted on request and varies with the length of stay, the ratio of individual to group training, and whether athletes book apartments and meal plans. The same office handles airport transfers, which simplifies arrivals. For families renting cars, the academy’s west-side location makes highway access straightforward, whether you are heading south toward Belgrade or north toward Subotica and the Hungarian border. Public transport serves the surrounding streets, and rideshare is widely used for short hops into the city center.

Medical access is straightforward. Physiotherapy is available on campus, and clinics in Novi Sad can handle minor issues quickly. For schooling, remote programs tend to fit best. The campus Wi-Fi supports video calls and assignment uploads, and study blocks are easy to schedule because the weekly training cadence is known in advance.

What differentiates Elite

• One-campus efficiency. Courts, gym, apartments, and restaurant sit together, which compresses transitions and lengthens rest windows, especially on two-a-day schedules.
• Year-round continuity. Covered courts in both summer and winter protect volume, a key ingredient for technical consolidation.
• Staff with tour and college experience. The leadership has coached on tour and navigated NCAA pathways, so players can aim at either track without changing academies.
• Balanced weekly rhythm. Built-in lighter midweek sessions and Saturday match play mimic the ebb and flow of competitive life.
• Serbian tennis ecosystem. Clay-court fundamentals, regional competition, and a culture that prizes resilience give juniors a strong foundation.

If you want a giant campus with resort amenities, consider the scale and spotlight at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. If you want a realistic, compact base that makes stacking quality weeks easier, Elite is closer to the mark.

Scholarships and accessibility

The academy’s pricing structure is flexible and typically tailored to the player’s plan. Families should ask about partial scholarships or support tied to performance, especially for longer stays or players aligning with the academy’s competitive goals. Because travel costs can shape a season, the ability to drive to a dense calendar of regional tournaments is an underappreciated savings that often equals or exceeds small tuition differences.

Accessibility is another strength. The campus is simple to navigate, and staff will coordinate meal adjustments or recovery needs as required. Players with specific medical or dietary requirements should communicate them at booking so the restaurant and coaching team can plan ahead.

Future outlook and vision

Elite has added facilities and covered spaces over time and is likely to keep refining rather than reinventing. The presence of the Tennis Association of Vojvodina in the same building helps anchor coach education, development camps, and tournament hosting. That pipeline keeps ideas fresh and brings sparring partners of different ages and styles through the gates. That pipeline keeps ideas fresh and brings sparring partners of different ages and styles through the gates. Expect the academy to continue prioritizing individual attention, clarity of planning, and campus efficiency over headline-grabbing expansions.

Planned improvements tend to focus on practical gains. Think incremental equipment upgrades in the gym, court maintenance that preserves the feel of the clay, and small technology additions that streamline video review. The guiding question is always the same. Does this change help players train better tomorrow than they did today?

Who thrives here

Choose Elite Tennis Academy if you want a European base that makes the weekly grind simpler to execute. It suits juniors who benefit from frequent one-to-one sessions, clay-court fundamentals, and a predictable cycle of training, match play, and rest. It also fits families who value on-site apartments and meals because it removes daily logistics from the equation.

If you are weighing the professional route, you will find coaches who have traveled on tour and speak the language of scheduling, surface transitions, and ranking points. If your target is college tennis in the United States, you will find mentors who have taken that path themselves and understand roster needs, video expectations, and admissions timelines.

If you need a luxury resort, this is not it. If you need a focused campus that helps you stack quality weeks, Elite delivers that environment. For many families, that clarity is the deciding factor.

Conclusion

Elite Tennis Academy has built a compact, year-round training base where logistics help rather than hinder. The courts are close, the apartments are on site, and the coaching is organized around frequent individual attention inside a balanced weekly plan. Novi Sad’s setting keeps life manageable and competition accessible, while staff experience connects to both tour realities and college pathways. Over months, that combination of simplicity and specificity compounds into progress. For players who value substance over spectacle and want a base they can trust week after week, Elite is a strong, quietly effective choice.